Atwood & Chee & Lerner & Porter & Waits & More
October 19, 2021 7:37 PM Subscribe
Inque Magazine will launch next month. It will be a printed literary magazine with a limited run of 6000 copies issued once a year for 10 years. It will feature no advertising, no web-equivalent, and will not be reprinted. In addition to a wonderful list of contributors and a hell of a masthead, Jonathan Lethem will publish a 10-chapter novel in the mag, one chapter per issue for the decade.
An associated podcast from Avery Trufelman of 99% Invisible and Articles of Interest is forthcoming but doesn't yet have a launch date.
An associated podcast from Avery Trufelman of 99% Invisible and Articles of Interest is forthcoming but doesn't yet have a launch date.
I can drop these on top of my stack of New Yorkers every year to celebrate the passage of time.
posted by wotsac at 8:33 PM on October 19, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 8:33 PM on October 19, 2021 [11 favorites]
(This isn't the place for a full Atwood derail, but her spot in row two of the masthead, while probably not intentionally, situates the publication at the very uncomfortable conjunction of quite a few years ago and 2021)
posted by wotsac at 8:48 PM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 8:48 PM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
So, yet another platform for writers who are already well-established, that does not allow submissions from anyone but the cool kids, yet purports to contain the best modern writing.
It's equivalent to hiring your friend and then claiming to have found the best person for the job after a long, exhaustive search. Best of all 1 candidates you looked at.
The literary industry has become so, so insular, and silly things like talent, creativity, or insight are not even on the list of traits that get your work read.
There are other voices that deserve to be heard too.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 8:52 PM on October 19, 2021 [13 favorites]
It's equivalent to hiring your friend and then claiming to have found the best person for the job after a long, exhaustive search. Best of all 1 candidates you looked at.
The literary industry has become so, so insular, and silly things like talent, creativity, or insight are not even on the list of traits that get your work read.
There are other voices that deserve to be heard too.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 8:52 PM on October 19, 2021 [13 favorites]
So Lethem is trying to out GRRM GRRM? Pynch might be the only author I'd believe if they asked me to wait a decade to have them finish a novel.
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:57 PM on October 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:57 PM on October 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Cool Kids thing, but also Atwood has been making transphobic adjacent noises on Twitter lately.
posted by wotsac at 8:57 PM on October 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 8:57 PM on October 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
If this is not a joke — "Inque"?? I mean, come on — it will damage the reputation of anyone associated with it.
posted by jamjam at 10:10 PM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 10:10 PM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's as if the dinosaurs of print have discovered NFTs.
posted by sjswitzer at 11:07 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 11:07 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
jamjam: "If this is not a joke — "Inque"?? I mean, come on — it will damage the reputation of anyone associated with it."
stain it, you mean?
posted by chavenet at 2:21 AM on October 20, 2021 [7 favorites]
stain it, you mean?
posted by chavenet at 2:21 AM on October 20, 2021 [7 favorites]
It's almost as if the world of literary fiction didn't need to seem any more niche, elitist, and exclusionary!
(Seriously, though, I don't think this is the moment for a publication like this. I think that moment passed sometime in the mid-2000s, which coincidentally is around the last time I plunked down $30ish for a McSweeney's quarterly... so, perhaps, subjective. But this isn't an announcement I'd want to make a week or two after the Chunky Monkeys scandal, even if it's only related by field.)
posted by verbminx at 3:32 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Seriously, though, I don't think this is the moment for a publication like this. I think that moment passed sometime in the mid-2000s, which coincidentally is around the last time I plunked down $30ish for a McSweeney's quarterly... so, perhaps, subjective. But this isn't an announcement I'd want to make a week or two after the Chunky Monkeys scandal, even if it's only related by field.)
posted by verbminx at 3:32 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
What is the point of having such limited access?
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 3:49 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 3:49 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
I hope the people who showed up just to grumble about cool kids are putting their money where their mouth is and financially supporting the publications that publish emerging writers and new writing.
posted by betweenthebars at 4:24 AM on October 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by betweenthebars at 4:24 AM on October 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
As much as I am extremely disappointed in Atwood - why must so many formerly admirable people ossify this way? - this thing seems like an art project more than a magazine, something that is intended to be collectible and beautiful, so it makes a certain amount of sense that it is expensive.
I do notice that it looks like Atwood is "interviewing" George Orwell in some way, which only makes sense - he too ossified into someone whose positions were shameful and injurious to the very left he came up in.
posted by Frowner at 5:57 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I do notice that it looks like Atwood is "interviewing" George Orwell in some way, which only makes sense - he too ossified into someone whose positions were shameful and injurious to the very left he came up in.
posted by Frowner at 5:57 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
So, I'm curious, as someone who is apparently not the target audience for this, what sort of things would I have to be reading to have even heard of most of the Contributers.
I opened the list expecting to see a bunch of famous, familiar names, and I only even recognize three of them. And that's assuming the Tom Waits on this list is the musician Tom Waits and not a writer Tom Waits that I have not heard of.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:10 AM on October 20, 2021
I opened the list expecting to see a bunch of famous, familiar names, and I only even recognize three of them. And that's assuming the Tom Waits on this list is the musician Tom Waits and not a writer Tom Waits that I have not heard of.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:10 AM on October 20, 2021
Those of you complaining about the cost -- do you also complain when the writers and artists involved with projects don't get paid? You seem pretty upset when they do! There are no ads, something I imagine a lot of people consider a feature. How else are you supposed to pay the people involved, not to mention the cost of paper, printing, shipping, and storage? The creation of this project isn't coming out of your taxes. You don't have to buy it.
Those of you complaining about Cool Kids -- did you bother to read the list of approx 50 contributors? I consider myself pretty in the know about who the Cool Kids are and I haven't heard of a shit ton of these writers. That doesn't mean they're necessarily unpublished, but they ain't all Margaret Atwood or Tom Waits or other names who have draw enough to people who'll pay for the object in the first place.
You want new writers, pick up a copy of American Chordata. An excellent new one just came out -- and it's cheap! (Easier to do when the writers are paid $30 flat.)
It's equivalent to hiring your friend and then claiming to have found the best person for the job after a long, exhaustive search.
No, it's the equivalent of hiring professionals who know how to do the job well enough to consistently satisfy the paying customers. Just judging by the variety of names it seems like the editors have done a stand-up job of being inclusive and diverse. There are contributors to the project who have published a single book or collection of stories -- and probably some who haven't been published in book form at all (again, I don't know all the names).
Honestly, when interesting and different art projects like this get this kind of reaction it's any wonder anyone does anything creative at all, or that anyone bothers to share them when they're found. No wonder the world's full of Marvel and Star Wars and other mindless, toothless drivel. It's not just what the people want -- it's what they deserve!
posted by dobbs at 6:22 AM on October 20, 2021 [16 favorites]
Those of you complaining about Cool Kids -- did you bother to read the list of approx 50 contributors? I consider myself pretty in the know about who the Cool Kids are and I haven't heard of a shit ton of these writers. That doesn't mean they're necessarily unpublished, but they ain't all Margaret Atwood or Tom Waits or other names who have draw enough to people who'll pay for the object in the first place.
You want new writers, pick up a copy of American Chordata. An excellent new one just came out -- and it's cheap! (Easier to do when the writers are paid $30 flat.)
It's equivalent to hiring your friend and then claiming to have found the best person for the job after a long, exhaustive search.
No, it's the equivalent of hiring professionals who know how to do the job well enough to consistently satisfy the paying customers. Just judging by the variety of names it seems like the editors have done a stand-up job of being inclusive and diverse. There are contributors to the project who have published a single book or collection of stories -- and probably some who haven't been published in book form at all (again, I don't know all the names).
Honestly, when interesting and different art projects like this get this kind of reaction it's any wonder anyone does anything creative at all, or that anyone bothers to share them when they're found. No wonder the world's full of Marvel and Star Wars and other mindless, toothless drivel. It's not just what the people want -- it's what they deserve!
posted by dobbs at 6:22 AM on October 20, 2021 [16 favorites]
What is the point of having such limited access?
To add value by scarcity. If you really love the work of the authors listed, perhaps you will find it compelling enough to spend £55 on one magazine to read stuff that no one else gets to see.
Or, perhaps, you wish to project that you are a fancy person who likes [pretentious British accent]literature[/accent], so to project your upper middle class status you will spend an unreasonable amount on an exclusive magazine to have it on your coffee table when having friends over for cocktail parties.
Both of which is why it has to be established authors and not new authors--the name recognition is important for the class projection, and the big fanbase is important for there to be enough people to make the enterprise viable.
posted by JDHarper at 7:03 AM on October 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
To add value by scarcity. If you really love the work of the authors listed, perhaps you will find it compelling enough to spend £55 on one magazine to read stuff that no one else gets to see.
Or, perhaps, you wish to project that you are a fancy person who likes [pretentious British accent]literature[/accent], so to project your upper middle class status you will spend an unreasonable amount on an exclusive magazine to have it on your coffee table when having friends over for cocktail parties.
Both of which is why it has to be established authors and not new authors--the name recognition is important for the class projection, and the big fanbase is important for there to be enough people to make the enterprise viable.
posted by JDHarper at 7:03 AM on October 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
It wasn't as expensive when I subscribed through Kickstarter last year. The T-shirt screams "I am a an elite literary snob!" but when I wore it to a high school English class, the teenagers complimented me on my "outfit," something that never happens ordinarily.
posted by kozad at 7:09 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kozad at 7:09 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Gosh, if they included an all cotton tote to carry my brie and french bread in...I might be enticed.... not.
posted by Czjewel at 7:36 AM on October 20, 2021
posted by Czjewel at 7:36 AM on October 20, 2021
How does this even pencil out? Over 45 writers. Editorial staff of 5. Editorial board of 8. An art director who presumably directs some staff. A website and e-commerce system. Finally, the magazine will have to be printed and shipped. That's a lot of expenses and people to pay for £55.00 x 6000 = £330000/yr. (I guess the shirts and tote-bags are unlimited but...).
posted by sjswitzer at 7:56 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sjswitzer at 7:56 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm not naive about how little authors are often paid and how much work can be pushed off on unpaid interns. Even so... this will also need some kind of staff support for accounting and possibly even legal counsel (incorporating a business, etc.).
If this is serious, £55.00 is a very reasonable price for a 232 page issue (basically the price of a tank of petrol).
i still don't get the point of it being a limited edition. Don't writers want to be read? Is the Wu Tang Clan record even music if nobody can listen to it?
I mean, I get it as a kind of art project, but I feel like there has to be something else going on here.
posted by sjswitzer at 8:16 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
If this is serious, £55.00 is a very reasonable price for a 232 page issue (basically the price of a tank of petrol).
i still don't get the point of it being a limited edition. Don't writers want to be read? Is the Wu Tang Clan record even music if nobody can listen to it?
I mean, I get it as a kind of art project, but I feel like there has to be something else going on here.
posted by sjswitzer at 8:16 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing that if you're a small staff with a limited budget, a single fixed print run is the easiest to manage, even if you're the fanciest version of a small staff with a limited budget.
posted by praemunire at 8:42 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 8:42 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's not environmentally destructive like an NFT so it's fine. I think Jack from the White Stripes did a similar project where he released a limited edition vinyl that he only played once, for the fan who bought it. Once you become famous you can trade on your name to make money on projects like this. And I think there's nostalgia too, for an era of scarcity.
posted by subdee at 8:47 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by subdee at 8:47 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
to read stuff that no one else gets to see.
Eh, I'll wait 'til it's out on LibGen.
posted by eclectist at 9:02 AM on October 20, 2021
Eh, I'll wait 'til it's out on LibGen.
posted by eclectist at 9:02 AM on October 20, 2021
I gather that mine is not a popular opinion, but . . . I think this looks brilliant. I'll probably order a copy.
posted by Annabelle74 at 9:22 AM on October 20, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Annabelle74 at 9:22 AM on October 20, 2021 [5 favorites]
Yeah, this strikes me as an Extremely Mid-2000s Nostalgia Project. At the time, I would have seen the ads for it on salon.com and swooned, and maybe consoled myself by buying the latest issue of Granta. These days I just roll my eyes and laugh quietly about the (apt, I think) comparisons to NFTs. I'll probably end up listening to the podcast, though.
i still don't get the point of it being a limited edition. Don't writers want to be read?
Part of the point - and part of what makes the Literary Cool Kids so insufferable IMO - is that they have reached a career apogee at which they categorically do not have to worry that no one wants to hear what they have to say. For the moment, at least. It's like the difference between being acclaimed the sexiest person alive and actually having a lot of good sex. You can make way more people want to have sex with you than you can ever physically screw, and for some people, the creation of desire becomes more important than the act to which the desire refers. Gatekeeping serves a multitude of psychological functions.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 9:25 AM on October 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
i still don't get the point of it being a limited edition. Don't writers want to be read?
Part of the point - and part of what makes the Literary Cool Kids so insufferable IMO - is that they have reached a career apogee at which they categorically do not have to worry that no one wants to hear what they have to say. For the moment, at least. It's like the difference between being acclaimed the sexiest person alive and actually having a lot of good sex. You can make way more people want to have sex with you than you can ever physically screw, and for some people, the creation of desire becomes more important than the act to which the desire refers. Gatekeeping serves a multitude of psychological functions.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 9:25 AM on October 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
Honestly, when interesting and different art projects like this get this kind of reaction it's any wonder anyone does anything creative at all, or that anyone bothers to share them when they're found. No wonder the world's full of Marvel and Star Wars and other mindless, toothless drivel. It's not just what the people want -- it's what they deserve!
My concern with it is not the cost, nor that people are getting paid, it's that the whole thing smacks of the elitism I've come to expect from the Literary Cool Kids. Including, frankly, your comment.
I'll stick with the plebes, I guess.
posted by nubs at 9:28 AM on October 20, 2021 [5 favorites]
My concern with it is not the cost, nor that people are getting paid, it's that the whole thing smacks of the elitism I've come to expect from the Literary Cool Kids. Including, frankly, your comment.
I'll stick with the plebes, I guess.
posted by nubs at 9:28 AM on October 20, 2021 [5 favorites]
i still don't get the point of it being a limited edition. Don't writers want to be read?
Everything in this world is limited edition, whether someone realizes it or not. Everything goes out of production in one way -- if not all ways -- or another. Stating so up-front is just a marketing choice to encourage people who may normally delay purchasing.
Also, I believe my statement that it's limited to 6000 was a bit incorrect. Issue one is limited to 6000. Presumably if it sells out, issue two will be more, and if it doesn't, they may scale that down. No way to know. Sorry if I suggested it was a hard-number for all issues for the decade.
posted by dobbs at 9:52 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Everything in this world is limited edition, whether someone realizes it or not. Everything goes out of production in one way -- if not all ways -- or another. Stating so up-front is just a marketing choice to encourage people who may normally delay purchasing.
Also, I believe my statement that it's limited to 6000 was a bit incorrect. Issue one is limited to 6000. Presumably if it sells out, issue two will be more, and if it doesn't, they may scale that down. No way to know. Sorry if I suggested it was a hard-number for all issues for the decade.
posted by dobbs at 9:52 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Okay, now that the classic highbrow/lowbrow fight has emerged in earnest here, I feel compelled to point out that this is part of the conversation the project is trying to create. Maybe in 2004 it would've been a bit more tongue-in-cheek, but if at least one of the first few episodes of the associated podcast doesn't directly address issues of scarcity/accessibility and outright mention the Wu-Tang album, I may not eat my hat, but I'll be very disappointed. I don't think Sharmaine Lovegrove would have got involved with a project so deliberately calculated to look like an exercise in exclusionary onanism without knowing what she was doing.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 10:08 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by All hands bury the dead at 10:08 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
I hope the people who showed up just to grumble about cool kids are putting their money where their mouth is and financially supporting the publications that publish emerging writers and new writing.
Emerging writers aren't who you apparently think they are. Very very few established, high-quality publications (those that are read by agents, have successfully nominated pieces for awards, and pay anything at all) publish from the slush, and most writers characterized as "emerging" already have MFAs, connections, and the backing of powerful people.
But yes, I'm supporting the publications I choose to submit my work to, because I usually have to pay reading fees, whereas the established writers, who submit through agents or directly to editors with whom they have a relationship, pay nada. I and other poor schmucks who don't have MFAs or connections are subsidizing the established writers.
I do get my excellent work published sometimes, but never in top tier journals. Established writers get even their crappiest work published.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 10:25 AM on October 20, 2021
Emerging writers aren't who you apparently think they are. Very very few established, high-quality publications (those that are read by agents, have successfully nominated pieces for awards, and pay anything at all) publish from the slush, and most writers characterized as "emerging" already have MFAs, connections, and the backing of powerful people.
But yes, I'm supporting the publications I choose to submit my work to, because I usually have to pay reading fees, whereas the established writers, who submit through agents or directly to editors with whom they have a relationship, pay nada. I and other poor schmucks who don't have MFAs or connections are subsidizing the established writers.
I do get my excellent work published sometimes, but never in top tier journals. Established writers get even their crappiest work published.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 10:25 AM on October 20, 2021
In somewhat related news, The Believer Magazine is shutting down.
posted by gwint at 11:02 AM on October 20, 2021
posted by gwint at 11:02 AM on October 20, 2021
No, it's the equivalent of hiring professionals who know how to do the job well enough to consistently satisfy the paying customers
The paying customers don't have much to choose from, because they rarely if ever get to read writing by people who are below upper-middle class... or who started writing when they were older... or who have family obligations and cannot drop everything and enter a prestigious MFA program (none of which are low residency).
If you go to the store looking for fruit, and only apples are in stock, shall I conclude that you prefer apples?
Only certain people are allowed a voice, and it has almost nothing to do with the quality of their writing.
There are contributors to the project who have published a single book or collection of stories -- and probably some who haven't been published in book form at all (again, I don't know all the names)
You're contradicting yourself. A moment ago, you wrote that all these writers consistently satisfied paying customers.
At any rate, a writer does not have to have any publications at all to be part of the in group, meaning the group whose work will actually be considered because they've made the right connections.
No wonder the world's full of Marvel and Star Wars and other mindless, toothless drivel. It's not just what the people want -- it's what they deserve!
How dare people object to a vanity project where powerful people publish their own work without any vetting and call it a literary magazine!
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 11:07 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
The paying customers don't have much to choose from, because they rarely if ever get to read writing by people who are below upper-middle class... or who started writing when they were older... or who have family obligations and cannot drop everything and enter a prestigious MFA program (none of which are low residency).
If you go to the store looking for fruit, and only apples are in stock, shall I conclude that you prefer apples?
Only certain people are allowed a voice, and it has almost nothing to do with the quality of their writing.
There are contributors to the project who have published a single book or collection of stories -- and probably some who haven't been published in book form at all (again, I don't know all the names)
You're contradicting yourself. A moment ago, you wrote that all these writers consistently satisfied paying customers.
At any rate, a writer does not have to have any publications at all to be part of the in group, meaning the group whose work will actually be considered because they've made the right connections.
No wonder the world's full of Marvel and Star Wars and other mindless, toothless drivel. It's not just what the people want -- it's what they deserve!
How dare people object to a vanity project where powerful people publish their own work without any vetting and call it a literary magazine!
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 11:07 AM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's weird to me that so many people are using the limited print run, lack of website, and finite nature of the project as markers of elitism rather than practical measures to ensure that the project is viable? Like maybe the thinking was "If we only publish once a year instead of every month, and skip the cost of creating and managing a website, and charge an amount that will keep us relatively in the black, and don't overpromise something like 'this will go on forever', we can actually make this happen."
And seriously, if you can recognize more than a third of the names of those contributors, good on ya, but to frame this as a "famous writer vanity project" is absurd.
posted by gwint at 11:09 AM on October 20, 2021 [7 favorites]
And seriously, if you can recognize more than a third of the names of those contributors, good on ya, but to frame this as a "famous writer vanity project" is absurd.
posted by gwint at 11:09 AM on October 20, 2021 [7 favorites]
One of the things I find interesting about this is the idea of a novel published a chapter at a time over 10 years. It's like the ultimate fuck you to the culture of binge watching content on demand. I think I would probably find that experience kind of infuriating as a reader -- I already try not to start novel series that haven't been finished yet so I don't get stuck waiting for the next book -- but it would probably depend how cohesive each chapter felt.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:18 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 11:18 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am also intrigued by how that would work from the perspective of the writer. Will they write the whole story in advance and parcel it out? Will they resist tweaking it endlessly if they do? Or will they write parts of it and then write the rest to deadline? Will the end seem to respond to world events since the beginning? Will the passage of time itself be an important element in the story?
posted by jacquilynne at 11:24 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 11:24 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
It will be a printed literary magazine with a limited run of 6000 copies issued once a year for 10 years. It will feature no advertising, no web-equivalent, and will not be reprinted.
This is not a magazine. It is a stunt. If I were a betting man I would be interested in odds of the perpetrators being able to keep it up for the whole 10 issues.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 11:39 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is not a magazine. It is a stunt. If I were a betting man I would be interested in odds of the perpetrators being able to keep it up for the whole 10 issues.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 11:39 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm not quite the target audience for this effort, but in a very slightly different world I might be. (I have a fair number of Taschen volumes somewhere... probably in a box; subscribed to The Believer, etc.). There's an interesting parallel to limited edition art prints in play here. Even the total subscription price for ten years is, IMO, kinda reasonable if they pull it off.
Let's just say I'm skeptical that they can. Ten years is a long time. I mean Microsoft once said there'd never be a Windows 11, just rolling updates of Windows 10. 7-Up Gold had caffeine. Nobody knows what they're going to do and if they tell you, you'd best take it with a grain of salt.
But if they do, well that would be something, wouldn't it?
posted by sjswitzer at 11:56 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Let's just say I'm skeptical that they can. Ten years is a long time. I mean Microsoft once said there'd never be a Windows 11, just rolling updates of Windows 10. 7-Up Gold had caffeine. Nobody knows what they're going to do and if they tell you, you'd best take it with a grain of salt.
But if they do, well that would be something, wouldn't it?
posted by sjswitzer at 11:56 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
It's weird to me that so many people are using the limited print run, lack of website, and finite nature of the project as markers of elitism rather than practical measures to ensure that the project is viable? Like maybe the thinking was "If we only publish once a year instead of every month, and skip the cost of creating and managing a website, and charge an amount that will keep us relatively in the black, and don't overpromise something like 'this will go on forever', we can actually make this happen."
I mean...right? Sometimes I feel criticism of cultural projects reflects a real lack of thinking about the practicalities involved. If I have a project without a ton of margin for financial error and I think I can probably sell 6,000 units, but anything more is a risk, of course I'm going to call it a limited edition of 6,000 and hope to build some excitement for the next iteration. Were zines that had print runs under 1000 inherently elitist? (Now they generally didn't/don't cost 50 pounds or whatever, but are we now objecting to paying writers and staff? Because that's how you pay writers and staff, unless you're dependent on a patron.)
One of the things I find interesting about this is the idea of a novel published a chapter at a time over 10 years.
As usual, the AO3 is on the cutting edge of literary technique. I personally refuse to read WIPs, so, sorry, Lethem.
posted by praemunire at 12:41 PM on October 20, 2021
I mean...right? Sometimes I feel criticism of cultural projects reflects a real lack of thinking about the practicalities involved. If I have a project without a ton of margin for financial error and I think I can probably sell 6,000 units, but anything more is a risk, of course I'm going to call it a limited edition of 6,000 and hope to build some excitement for the next iteration. Were zines that had print runs under 1000 inherently elitist? (Now they generally didn't/don't cost 50 pounds or whatever, but are we now objecting to paying writers and staff? Because that's how you pay writers and staff, unless you're dependent on a patron.)
One of the things I find interesting about this is the idea of a novel published a chapter at a time over 10 years.
As usual, the AO3 is on the cutting edge of literary technique. I personally refuse to read WIPs, so, sorry, Lethem.
posted by praemunire at 12:41 PM on October 20, 2021
One of the things I find interesting about this is the idea of a novel published a chapter at a time over 10 years.
In a way it's an interesting callback to Victorian-era serialized novels, though of course it's over much more time than those novels typically were. (The Pickwick Papers was published over 20 months from March 1836 to November 1837; The Count of Monte Cristo over 17 months from August 1844 to January 1846.)
posted by andrewesque at 1:33 PM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
In a way it's an interesting callback to Victorian-era serialized novels, though of course it's over much more time than those novels typically were. (The Pickwick Papers was published over 20 months from March 1836 to November 1837; The Count of Monte Cristo over 17 months from August 1844 to January 1846.)
posted by andrewesque at 1:33 PM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
It's weird to me that so many people are using the limited print run, lack of website, and finite nature of the project as markers of elitism rather than practical measures to ensure that the project is viable?
That's a strong ¿Porque no los dos? from me. They're selling their practical measures to preserve solvency as cool kid exclusivity because that's what it takes to make the year 1 print run solvent. 10 points for effort. What they'll do for year two when the latecomers have missed out on the first issue, but also had the better part of a year to forget their FOMO?
posted by wotsac at 7:18 PM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
That's a strong ¿Porque no los dos? from me. They're selling their practical measures to preserve solvency as cool kid exclusivity because that's what it takes to make the year 1 print run solvent. 10 points for effort. What they'll do for year two when the latecomers have missed out on the first issue, but also had the better part of a year to forget their FOMO?
posted by wotsac at 7:18 PM on October 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
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posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:52 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]